So maybe No. 8 West Virginia (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) at No. 11 Texas (4-0, 1-0) isn’t the biggest game in college football history. Many would argue there are a couple of SEC matchups—LSU-Florida and Georgia-South Carolina—this very weekend that’ll have more impact on the national championship race.

Don’t you dare listen to them. How could anyone even begin to suggest the Longhorns and Mountaineers aren’t legitimately in the title picture at this point? Not to mention: This should be one of the most entertaining games E-V-E-R.

Over the top? Sorry. Let’s just say in 2012, then.

On the line

You know how some Big 12 observers like to play that wacky game of pretending Kansas State doesn’t exist? We’d never do that for real—we dig the Wildcats—but for the moment we’ll play along with the notion that, as a lot of people believe, the Mountaineers and the Longhorns are the two most promising teams in the conference.

If that’s the case, well, then, this is a matchup that should yield not only the favorite to win the league but one of the leading candidates from any conference to reach the BCS title game.

No matter how you choose to order the Big 12 teams right now, it’s undeniable the winner of this game will be in position to reach for its wildest dreams. Texas has the huge Oklahoma game next weekend in Dallas, but after that it could be smooth sailing until the regular-season finale at K-State. And WVU has the Wildcats and the Sooners in Morgantown this year.

Sideline view

Why does Oklahoma State have a lot to do with this game? Because Dana Holgorsen has a bunch of buddies on the coaching staff in Stillwater, where he helped construct the Cowboys’ offensive machine before taking the head job at WVU. And because the Longhorns just played (and beat) the Cowboys there last weekend.

“We probably will have some advantages in having some of the same things that we have to coach against two weeks in a row,” said Mack Brown, “but they’ve got some advantages because they’re very close to the Oklahoma State staff and (the Cowboys) did a great job of moving the ball against us.”

OSU had 576 yards of offense in UT’s 41-36 victory.

Critical matchup

The Longhorns would love nothing more than to run the ball all night on WVU. Given the productivity thus far of running backs Joe Bergeron and Malcolm Brown—and the fact the Mountaineers' defense was shredded last weekend in a 70-63 win over Baylor—it seems Texas ought to be able to assert itself in this area.

Holgorsen isn’t so sure. “We probably match up a little bit better with (Texas),” he said. “Defensively, we played well against the run (vs. Baylor).”

Believe it or not, that’s accurate. The Bears had just 119 yards on 45 attempts (2.6 average).

“Our pass defense was atrocious,” said Holgorsen, adding the obvious.

The pick

Texas 52, West Virginia 45. It’s time for the Longhorns’ highly capable defense to show up—or, at the least, to pressure WVU quarterback Geno Smith (20 touchdowns, zero interceptions) into his first big mistake of the season. And—heck, yes—UT will be able to run the ball with tons of success.